Gerber Mulit-Plier 600 ST

Cool factor of 10 and a Stainless steel construction with a black oxide finish, the Gerber Multi-Plier 600 (Sight Tool) is everything you’ve come to expect from a Gerber plus a little more. With the new AR-15 specific tools and the classic go-to tools, it’s basically one montage song away from 80’s action hero status.

Gerber Multi-Plier 600 ST, $95, www.gerbergear.com.

The Good:A little elbow bit of grease and the 600 ST, you’ll give MacGyver a run for his money.

The Bad:Doesn’t yet include the James Bond style laser cutter we all really want.

The Ugly:The arterial gusher you’ll get from slipping while using the razor sharp knife foldout.

I appreciate gear that does a ton of things, so I got excited about the chance to test Gerber’s newest multi-tool entry to the market. I’m looking for my multi-tools to be equipped with the basic tools to get the job done without wasting space (sorry Swiss Army, but the plastic toothpick doesn’t make the cut), ease of use, and finally when I accidentally drop it from way to high for the 12th time everything needs to be where it was before gravity did its thing.

I recently got to test the Gerber on a job I had in a developing country. The first thing you’ll notice about the well equipped multi-tool is Gerber’s one-handed opening. Gerber seems to get that in a stressful environment you usually have a lot of tasks to do all at once, and they recognize the need to free up your hands as much as possible for said tasks. I can dig it.

The needle nose pliers, razor sharp knife, carbide wire cutters, and long reach screwdrivers were all top notch tools. What I really appreciated, though, was the addition of the AR-15 front sight post adjustment tool and the carbon scraper tool for easy maintenance on your weapon. Anyone who’s ever had to rotate the front sight post with the green tip of a .556 round can tell you it gets old real quick. With the front sight tool it’s an easy day grabbing your Gerber off your belt, deploying the adjustment tool, and making your sight adjustments. Hey, it’s the small victories right?

I put the Gerber through the paces and tried my best to break it. It stood up to every task I threw at and came through with flying colors. Solid tools, ease of use, and coming in at 8.2 oz. After torturing like I did I decided it was going to be a regular in my go bag for work.

Turns out I’m not the only one who appreciates quality craftsmanship. I went through my bag after I got back stateside only to discover that somewhere between me arriving at my foreign airport and getting back home, my new go-to appeared to have caught somebody’s eye. Somebody who must have needed it more. I suppose it comes with working overseas.

Next time, I’m going to stash it in between my clothes on the way back.